This invention is not made under any Federally related nor Independent sponsorship and is the sole result of the named inventor.
Applicant has not filed nor is he aware of any applications filed by others that should be considered during the prosecution of this application.
This invention relates generally to the connection of an alternative supply of electrical power in the event that utility, normally provided power, is interrupted and more specifically to such a connection which provides for close proximity of the alternative supply to the normally provided utility meter which allows for the connector to be maintained in a separate but nearly located housing or within the same housing that also accommodates the meter socket and thus utility input but which provides for physical isolation of the two entities. A pair of open-center switches are provided, a first between the utility supply and the user or load distribution panel and the second between the alternative source and the user or load distribution panel. Control circuitry is provided to sense utility power availability and upon cessation thereof, to open the first switch and upon a two step verification of such outage, to close the second switch and provide power from the alternative source to the load distribution panel. Upon utility service being reestablished, the procedure is reversed. At no time is there a possibility of the two power sources feeding the load nor the possibility of the alternative source reverse feeding the utility power transmission line.
An alternative power supply connection or connector is provided such that an alternative supply of power, such as a generator, may be positioned in close proximity to the electric utility meter and feed the rear side of the meter socket to bypass the meter and directly feed the user or load. Such positioning places the alternative supply in electrical front to the distribution panel of the load location and therefore in electrical front of the normally provided main service breaker of the load. The connection provides that the meter socket, alternative supply, connector and various controls therefore may be provided in a single housing which includes an isolation, physical divider, between the socket and alternative supply and which includes two distinctive cover panels to complete the isolation.
Two individual, open-center switches are provided. One such switch is arranged between the rear of the socket and the load distribution panel with the other between the alternative source and the distribution panel. Control circuitry is provided to sense utility power receipt and upon cessation thereof and at least a pair of verifications of the same, the first such switch is opened and the second switch, controlling communication between the alternative power source and the load distribution panel is closed. Upon sensing of utility power availability, the switching function is reversed to open the second switch to the alternative power source and close the first switch to the utility to restore utility service to the load.
Obviously, means for starting the alternative power source, if a fueled generator, must be included.
Means for providing an alternate power source to insure continuous or relatively continuous power supply to a user when utility transmission fails is not new to the art of electrical power transmission.
The simplest of such forms is a purely mechanical open-center, dual contact swing arm which simply, upon manual application of force, shifts the contactor arm from contact with the utility lines to the alternative source lines. Obviously, the output from the contactor arm directs received power to the distribution panel of the load location where it may be further divided into various operative circuits through a distribution panel.
The applicant""s invention combines two open-center switches with a control to automatically close and open the same such that at no given instance is power delivered to the load location from two sources, the utility power cannot feed the alternative source and the load nor can the alternative source back feed the utility connection while providing power to the load.
To insure that no common transmission is ever provided, at lest a dual verification of utility power cessation is required prior to alternative power connection and transmission.
As designed, Applicant""s unit allows for placement of the alternative source in close proximity to the provided utility meter socket and, in fact, provides that the connection to the alternative source may be positioned within a common housing with the meter socket but separated therefrom by a physical barrier with individual cover panels covering each portion of the common unit.
It is therefore an object of the Applicant""s invention to provide an alternative power source connection which includes means for connecting an alterative power supply to the load side of a utility meter socket with an open-center switch between the alternative supply and the load distribution control panel.
It is a further object of the Applicant""s invention to provide an open-center switch between the utility meter socket and the load distribution control panel.
It is a further object of the Applicant""s invention to provided control circuitry for a pair of open-center switches which independently control power transmission from utility transmission lines to a load distribution control panel and an alternative source of power to the load distribution control panel which insures complete cessation of utility power provision prior to allowing power to be transmitted between the alternative source and the load distribution control panel and reversing the procedure upon reestablishment of utility power transmission.
These and other objects and advantages of the Applicant""s invention will more fully appear from a consideration of the accompanying description and drawings and in which: